All across Scottsdale, you can see the names of people who want to write laws for the rest of us to follow.
The names adorn campaign signs, a significant portion of which violate city law. Gotta love the irony.
Scottsdale bans political signs in the right of way. That means they have to go on private property. You'd hope that campaigns would check ownership and ask permission before pounding a stake...

A wag once observed that academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so low.
He could have been talking about Scottsdale's Channel 11 Programming Commission, the source of City Hall's most compelling drama lately.
One member was fired — and then reappointed by someone else. Another member quit. Testy e-mails went back and forth, with Chairman Lamar Whitmer referring to one colleague...

The first question answered itself:
"Does Scottsdale have a vision for its future?" the audience member asked a panel that had spent nearly an hour discussing vision and how a community develops one.
The city hasn't been through a formal visioning exercise in nearly two decades. City staffers have sought residents' thoughts about specific areas, such as the Airpark or downtown, but not...

The last place Sen. Carolyn Allen wanted to spend the last hours of her final legislative session was on the Senate floor.
So she went home.
"I cracked open a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates," Allen said. "I watched some on TV. I know Ron Gould said some nice things about me. "
Allen is leaving the Legislature after 16 years. She's looking forward to board work and...

When President Obama last visited Phoenix, protesters gathered outside the Convention Center. A few openly carried rifles and pistols. Tea partiers and gun-rights activists defended this in-your-face display as nothing more than an exercise of Second Amendment rights.
Over the past week, people protesting the new state immigration law gathered outside the state capitol. As far as I know, none displayed...

You could feel the excitement. An agreement on preserving the state's most scenic land was at hand.
Two bills would be introduced at the Legislature within a few days after a few remaining details were hammered out.
That news came in January at a Valley Forward panel discussion where four people from different sides of the issue were practically singing "Kumbaya."
"We've...

The tune was current, one all the elementary school children recognized as they ate lunch. They started dancing. A few minutes later, the youngsters were joined by silver-haired women who quickly learned the shuffle.
It was one of those "aha moments." No one had planned this. It just happened, giving the people who put together this day of sharing between young and old all the affirmation...

Mayor Jim Lane is a supporter of tourism.
Let's clear that up. Some people mistakenly read my March 17 column about the WestWorld area to say he was doing nothing to support Scottsdale's key industry.
That's clearly not the case.
Lane promoted the 2-cent bed-tax increase that tourism leaders said was vital to remaining competitive with other upscale destinations. His recent trip to a Chinese resort...

The woman gave her son a party celebrating his graduation from a private high school.
About 75 to 100 teens showed up, some bearing lots of alcohol. When police later arrived, they found kids puking into Rubbermaid buckets. One girl got so sick that the mother — the only adult at the party — took her to the garage to sober up. The mother refused to call 911. She said everything...

Gotta love the Census Bureau. They sent my form to the right address, but placed my home in a neighboring city.
But I shouldn't worry, the bureau assures me in perfect bureaucratic language and thinking:
· The address on your census form or advance letter may not list the city name you identify with or are used to seeing on your mail. This is a result...

Join thousands of azcentral.com fans on Facebook and get the day's most popular and talked-about Valley news, sports, entertainment and more - right in your newsfeed. You'll see what others are saying about the hot topics of the day.